SWEETING: DVD revival Paul Sweeting is editor of Content Agenda MARCH 7 | In the aftermath of Blu-ray’s victory over HD DVD in the high-def format war, many commentators predicted Blu-ray’s reign would be short lived, soon to be done in by digital downloads. But as Sony officials know, Blu-ray supporters’ biggest immediate challenge is to get consumers to make the leap from standard DVD to high-def. Click for full column
	BETWEEN THE LINES: All flows from theatrical Adding nuance to the day’s home entertainment news, with editor-in-chief Marcy Magiera. MPAA, setting the stage for this week’s ShoWest convention of theater operators in Las Vegas, last week released its annual report on the state of the theatrical market, which showed domestic box-office revenue rose 5.4% to $9.63 billion. That’s the largest gain since 2002. Click for the full blog
	RED STATE, BLUE STATE: Sony actually speaks to rival Microsoft? Making sense of the high-def battle between the red (HD DVD) and the blue (Blu-ray), with Susanne Ault. We could see a Blu-ray drive made for the Xbox 360, according to the Financial Times in speaking with Sony Electronics U.S. president Stan Glasgow. Don’t get me wrong—this could be fabulous for the format as the pool of potential adopters would immediately grow by about 7 million. Click for the full blog
	DISC DISH: Taxi drives to DVD Notable new releases coming to the DVD front lines, with Cheryl Cheng. Following its 2007 Best Documentary Oscar win, Taxi to the Dark Side will be driving to DVD on Sept. 29 (prebook; DVD $27.98). The documentary investigates the abuse of power by the Bush administration by following a taxi driver at the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. Click for the full blog
	DVDIALOG: Leonard Rosenman, 1924-2008 Chatting up the creative element, with Laurence Lerman. I wanted to note the passing of prolific Hollywood composer Leonard Rosenman, an artist whose name I wasn’t familiar with until I read his obituary in today’s New York Times. He died on Tuesday, March 4, of a heart attack. He was 83 years old. Click for the full blog
	THE DOWN LOW: No copying for old men The latest buzz on technology, downloads and viral videos, with Cindy Spielvogel. My mother-in-law and her 80-year-old boyfriend watched an illegal copy of No Country for Old Men before the Oscars. They said their friends bought it on the subway. Click for the full blog

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GameStop gets into films with MovieStop
MARCH 7 | GameStop has quietly gotten into the movie business. The largest U.S. videogame retailer has opened about 40 stores under the MovieStop moniker in Mid-Atlantic and southern states.
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Kansas town objects to R-rated Redbox kiosks
MARCH 7 | A McDonald’s restaurant in Anthony, Kan., removed the R-rated movies from its Redbox kiosk after a local independent video store owner raised the issue during a Feb. 18 board of commissioners meeting, according to meeting minutes posted on the town’s Web site.
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NAVD to honor studio supporters
MARCH 7 | The National Assn. of Video Distributors will meet in Santa Monica, Calif., next week for its 25th annual conference with suppliers.
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Netflix to buy back $150 million in stock
MARCH 7 | Netflix’s board of directors approved a program to buy back up to $150 million worth of additional stock this year.
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Trans World revenue drops 23% in Q4
MARCH 6 | Trans World Entertainment’s plan to become a broad entertainment retailer hit some bumps in the fourth quarter, as revenue for the three months ended Feb. 2 fell 23% to $451.5 million and the chain posted a net loss of $66 million.
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Teleflora grows Enchanted rebate deal
MARCH 6 | In conjunction with the March 18 release of Walt Disney’s Enchanted on DVD and Blu-ray, floral service Teleflora is creating some sweet-smelling magic of its own. Inspired by the fairy tale film, the company has created “Teleflora’s Enchanted Bouquet.”
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Blockbuster Q4 earnings rise on subscription sales
MARCH 6 | Blockbuster’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings quadrupled as the company edged closer to profitability for its online-subscription program by raising prices and slowed its decline in same-store sales.
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Consumer electronics helped February retail sales
MARCH 6 | FROM TWICE: Retail sales rose for public-traded retail chains with help from electronic products like HDTV and videogames.
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Blockbuster gets exclusive window on IFC titles
MARCH 5 | IFC Entertainment will release its titles only to Blockbuster for their first 60 days, with the exclusive spanning sell-through as well as physical and digital rental.

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VSDA v. Schwarzenegger appeal pending
MARCH 3 | The following summarizes key government affairs activities during January of the Entertainment Merchants Assn. • VSDA v. Schwarzenegger: All the briefs have been filed in the appeal of last year’s decision that permanently enjoined enforcement of the videogame restriction law enacted by the state of California in 2005.
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EMA backs pending anti-piracy measure
MARCH 3 | The Entertainment Merchants Assn. is supporting a proposed federal government measure that would increase a crackdown on illegally duplicated movies, videogames and other forms of content.
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Circuit City discounts HD DVD for quick inventory sell-off
MARCH 3 | Circuit City is closing out its HD DVD stock and expects to be rid of the products within the month.
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Sony tests digital copies on DVD releases
MARCH 7 | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is taking an experimental approach to embedding digital copies of its movies on DVD, including offering a half-dozen catalog titles exclusively through Wal-Mart and two DVD premieres to the entire market.
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NAVD to honor studio supporters
MARCH 7 | The National Assn. of Video Distributors will meet in Santa Monica, Calif., next week for its 25th annual conference with suppliers.
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Judge denies bail for Girls Gone Wild creator
MARCH 7 | FROM VARIETY: Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis has lost his bid to be released from a Nevada jail without fear of being extradited to Florida.
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Teleflora grows Enchanted rebate deal
MARCH 6 | In conjunction with the March 18 release of Walt Disney’s Enchanted on DVD and Blu-ray, floral service Teleflora is creating some sweet-smelling magic of its own. Inspired by the fairy tale film, the company has created “Teleflora’s Enchanted Bouquet.”
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Vivendi adds theatrical, drops “Visual”
MARCH 6 | Vivendi Visual Entertainment has dropped “Visual” from its name and added a theatrical distribution division. As part of the expansion, Tom O’Malley, formerly general manager of VVE, has been named president of Vivendi Entertainment.
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Hit Entertainment chief quits
MARCH 6 | FROM VARIETY: The CEO of U.K. children’s specialist, Hit Entertainment, has resigned from the company after three years in the job.
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2007 box office admissions flat, prices up
MARCH 5 | FROM CONTENTAGENDA: Total U.S. and Canadian movie theater receipts surged 5.4% in 2007, to $9.63 billion, thanks to a 5% increase in average ticket prices, according to annual data released Wednesday by the Motion Picture Assn. of America.
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DEG plans Blu-ray promotional blitz
MARCH 5 | The Digital Entertainment Group is promising to do for Blu-ray Disc what it did for DVD. DEG member companies are launching a consumer education, retail training and public relations blitz to break the high-definition format into the mainstream.
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Eros and Sony go Blu-ray in India
MARCH 5 | FROM VARIETY: With the high-definition standards war settled, Bollywood giant Eros Intl. and Sony Pictures are releasing films this month on Sony's Blu-Ray.
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Warner Bros. shape shifts
MARCH 5 | FROM VARIETY: While Time Warner topper Jeff Bewkes made the call to fold New Line Cinema into the Warner Bros. studio, it's up to Warner prexy Jeff Robinov, with guidance from his bosses Barry Meyer and Alan Horn, to figure out how to put the pieces of the new studio paradigm together.
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MPAA canines to dog movie pirates
MARCH 4 | FROM VARIETY: The MPAA has allocated two bootleg-sniffing retrievers to a school education campaign and donated another two canines to Malaysian authorities to help pick up the scent of counterfeiters.
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Semi-Pro soft, but nets top spot
MARCH 3 | VARIETY BOX OFFICE REPORT: New Line’s R-rated basketball spoof Semi-Pro didn’t get off to a fast break at the weekend box office, grossing an estimated $15.3 million from 3,121 theaters in the lowest opening for a major Will Ferrell comedy in almost a decade. Laffer won the weekend by default, since the other new pics opened in fewer than 1,200 theaters.
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Samsung pulls second-gen dual-format player
MARCH 7 | Citing the end of the format war, Samsung Electronics will not launch its planned second-generation HD DVD/Blu-ray combination player.
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Glasgow touts Sony’s share gains, Blu-ray, green efforts
MARCH 5 | FROM TWICE: Sony Electronics’ semiannual press roundtable with president Stan Glasgow took a colorful turn, as the company discussed Blu-ray, its green recycling efforts and the successful ad campaign featuring those colorful “HDNA molecules,” among other topics.
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DEG plans Blu-ray promotional blitz
MARCH 5 | The Digital Entertainment Group is promising to do for Blu-ray Disc what it did for DVD. DEG member companies are launching a consumer education, retail training and public relations blitz to break the high-definition format into the mainstream.
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Eros and Sony go Blu-ray in India
MARCH 5 | FROM VARIETY: With the high-definition standards war settled, Bollywood giant Eros Intl. and Sony Pictures are releasing films this month on Sony's Blu-Ray.
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Circuit City discounts HD DVD for quick inventory sell-off
MARCH 3 | Circuit City is closing out its HD DVD stock and expects to be rid of the products within the month.
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